Persons having long hair generally spend a significant amount of time drying and styling their hair after it has been washed. This drying process typically includes the use of an electric hair dryer or similar heating or styling means. Additionally, once dry, many persons desire to straighten their hair utilizing an electric straightening device or a flat iron. Each of these processes is time consuming, utilizes electricity, and generates heat. Furthermore, systems requiring a power source are generally not convenient, compact, or easily transportable.
Hair combs, drying devices, and straightening devices are well known in the art. However, there are many deficiencies with these known systems and methods. Many such devices require an electrical power source and generate unnecessary and wasted heat. Other known devices do not provide the means to allow a user to adjust a variable tension mechanism between the rows of teeth and, thus, the resultant varied degree of hair compression.
The following patents and published patent applications are known in the art.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2006/0130865, filed by Blyden and published on Jun. 22, 2006, discloses a hair comb having hot compressing teeth, which in an open mode are shrouded by cooler combing teeth designed to encapsulate hair, and in a triggered mode collapse toward each other to compress the hair confined between the cooler teeth. The compressing teeth are mounted to a collapsible mechanism actuated by the comb's user. Various means may be utilized to transfer thermal energy to the heated teeth, and to allow the combing teeth to remain at a lower temperature.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2005/0241661, filed by Eddinger et al. and published on Nov. 3, 2005, discloses a hand-held comb that has a set of fine teeth and a set of coarse teeth joined by a center section. The center section preferably has an opening large enough for a finger. The fine teeth and coarse teeth extend in opposite directions away from a longitudinal axis. Some or all of the teeth can have at least one undulation, to remove loose hair and at least some of the teeth can have barbs, to remove partially cut hair strands. The teeth can have sharp edges, which also remove partially cut hair strands.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2004/0045569, filed by Chan and published on Mar. 11, 2004, discloses a hair care device including hair combing means, said hair combing means including a plurality of combing teeth and means for adjusting effective teeth spacing between adjacent combing teeth, characterized in that at least some of said combing teeth being thermally conductive so that heat can be conducted from said combing means to said hair via said thermally conductive combing teeth when said hair is being engaged under tension by said combing teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,614,631, issued to Sendlbeck on Jan. 18, 1927, discloses a novel hair comb having a main section and an auxiliary section, both sections carrying teeth which may be adjusted toward and from each other in order to provide a coarse comb or a fine comb as may be desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,533,067, issued to Taren et al. on Dec. 5, 1950, discloses a teeth-locking comb constructed and arranged with fixed teeth and with spring-actuated clamping teeth for clamping hair in place and for holding the comb in an attractive position in the hair as an ornament.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,007, issued to Arnhols on Sep. 12, 1995, discloses a hair comb that includes moveable gripping elements for securing the hair comb in place in the user's hair. The hair comb comprises a main body including a plurality of teeth. A selected number of teeth include a longitudinal channel which is open along one side of the tooth. A gripping member including one or more gripping teeth is movably mounted in the main body. The gripping member is moveable from an inoperative position in which the gripping teeth are disposed within the longitudinal channels of respective teeth of the main body and a clamping position in which the gripping teeth extend outwardly from the longitudinal channels to clamp the user's hair between the gripping teeth and the adjacent teeth. A resilient member urges the gripping member to the retracted position. A latch releasably locks the gripping member in a clamping position. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the latch is operative to lock the gripping members in a plurality of different positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,818, issued to Weber on Oct. 10, 1972, discloses a hair-drying comb having open teeth that is supplied with heated air which flows into the comb housing and through slots aligned with the openings in the teeth. Drying air is thereby directed laterally into the hair held between the teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,129, issued to Wingard on Dec. 20, 1983, discloses shaped articles, such as hair brushes, combs and hair curlers, for rapid hair drying, molded in whole or in part of graft starch copolymer. Graft starch copolymers, such as base hydrolized starch-polyacrylonitrile, carbohydrate acrylic copolymer, modified carbohydrate derivatives, and combinations of polyacrylate and polyacrylamide, have superabsorbent properties. Graft starch copolymer is a blend of the natural polymer, starch, and synthetic polymers such as acrylamide and sodium or potassium acrylate. When used after a shower or after washing ones hair, these shaped articles, molded from graft starch copolymer, in accordance with the method of the present invention, will absorb essentially all moisture from the hair, upon contact, in a matter of a few minutes.
The foregoing patent and other information reflect the state of the art of which the inventor is aware and is tendered with a view toward discharging the inventor's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be pertinent to the patentability of the technology described herein. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that the foregoing patent and other information do not teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, the inventor's claimed invention.